dpb <none@non.net> wrote in message <kfgb3g$obo$1@speranza.aioe.org>...

> > That's again my observation there is no definitive language reference > for Matlab--only a more or less complete narrative description.

MATLAB language part is well defined (behavior of function declaration, input output, statements such as if swicth/case, while, the keyword end, ... The use of [], (), {}, Even COLON operator.

What can be considered narrative is the library functions that comes with. But they are not MATLAB language. Don't mix both.

> > > > Now if user can't make head or tail with the behavior of such and such> > function, that's his problem.> > Well, that's a problem when the behavior doesn't follow the description > but if there is no description it seems rather rude to blame that on the > user. :)

I never blame anyone when the problem is not mine. :-)

> > > Recently I use the fact that ([]:1) return an empty set, therefore allow> > me to save 1 test in my implementation. Is it meaningless?> > Would all depend on context. Again, you bring in unrelated issues

Precision: They are not issues to me.

I tried to give you various examples for behavior and simply ask you whereas you consider as "meaningless". I never get a clear answer. You never backup the characteristic "meaningless" you state somewhere op top of this thread, beside given argument the result is not what you expect to be, and accuse that people using the odd usage of colon with complex numbers knows nothing about the language.

Here is one more (out context) example:

>> a = sort([10i 1])

a =

1.0000 0 +10.0000i

>> a(1) < a(2)

ans =

0

This might seem meaningless to you. Yet it's perfectly defined and documented behavior. So they mean something, at least to me.